Lily Nichols - 'Is Low Carb Safe During Pregnancy?'

Lily Nichols is a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist, Certified Diabetes Educator, researcher, and author with a passion for evidence-based prenatal nutrition and exercise. Drawing from the current scientific literature and the wisdom of traditional cultures, her work is known for being research-focused, thorough, and sensible.

Lily's bestselling book, 'Real Food for Gestational Diabetes' (and online course of the same name), presents a revolutionary nutrient-dense, lower carb diet for managing gestational diabetes. Her unique approach has not only helped tens of thousands of women manage their gestational diabetes (most without the need for blood sugar-lowering medication), but has also influenced nutrition policies internationally.

Lily’s second book, 'Real Food for Pregnancy', is an evidence-based look at the gap between conventional prenatal nutrition guidelines and what’s optimal for mother and baby. With over 930 citations, this is the most comprehensive text on prenatal nutrition to date.

Lily is also creator of the popular blog, www.LilyNicholsRDN.com, which explores a variety of topics related to real food, mindful eating, and pregnancy nutrition.

[allyoucaneat]

I did a low carb pregnancy last year (<80g total carb/day) following Lily's book. I was diagnosed with GD at 12 week and didnt want to take any medication. I finished the pregnancy completely diet-controlled. Baby was born healthy and she's a perfectly happy/healthy little toddler today. Postpartum recovery was also very quick because I didn't gain much weight. Highly recommend checking out her book!

[ritakilicci]

My mother would indulge in so much carbs when she was pregnant with me, she had one of the worst cases of gestational diabetes and now 20 years later, I suffer from PCOS which is a chronic metabolic disorder with the main symptom being insulin resistance. The amount of suffering this disease has caused me.... ppl please take care of your blood sugar levels!!

[tanial]

After start a keto diet for at least 5 weeks, finally I got pregnant after 2.5 years trying at 36 years old. I wasn't expecting this "side effect" 😁 but thanks god happened. I continued this keto diet but my doctors were very concerned about it when ketones in my urine appeared. As a result of my urine test I was told to eat a "healthy" diet, full of carbs... the results: gestational diabetes. I wouldn't say another factors contributed to the development of GD, but the way I managed the blood sugars was by doing mostly keto. They (doctors) really scary you about ketones and I was forced to eat carbs but it is an inconsistency what they tell you. I was a whole mess between what doctors told me to do and the results I was having with keto while pregnat. I decided to follow keto diet (once in a while I ate carbs) and I have a healthy baby who was 7pounds and 7ounces as a new born.
My point is that many doctors don't even know the benefits of low carb and we are supposed to trust them.

[Royal_Tea_Liz]

I’m pregnant and prediabetic and been on a low carb and feeling great and losing weight even if that’s not the goal. But my nutritionist told me to start eating a lot of carbs cause it’s healthy for the baby and it gives me energy.... I told her when I eat carbs I crash. I knock out. And she told me it’s okay your pregnant just don’t cut out too much carbs.... I feel great on a low carb diet no morning sickness I’m sticking to this!

[EllieJadeOke]

The whole ketosis being dangerous in pregnancy argument is ridiculous. I was in serious starvation Ketosis for the first 3-4months of all 4 of my pregnancies due to Hyperemesis Gravidarum. I had 4+ ketones in my urine every single time. All of my children are extremely intelligent and well developed.

[dianaa]

I had a Keto pregnancy back in 2018 less 50 carbs and I have a healthy 2 year old that’s very smart, knows numbers to 10, knows his ABCs, right now he is into shapes so I’d like to think that his brain was well developed.

[Elemenohpea]

I’ve gained a lot of weight this pregnancy, and my OB told me to cut starches and to eat minimal fruit. Doctors are catching on!

[CarolFaruku]

I’m 45 and pregnant I eat a keto diet and I feel incredible 🥰

[AJH-kelj]

How am I just now discovering Lily Nichols? You are great, Mrs Nichols. I found you through Doctor Ken Berry. In his Monday night live streams his wife Neisha shows up, and in one of her own videos while she was pregnant she mentioned that you are friends with her. So I searched Lily Nichols and found you.
This message about gestational diabetes (GD) is so important. It affects women carrying babies and impacts the baby for the rest of their life. Every woman needs to know this. My neighbor's daughter had gestational diabetes. After the baby was born, she continued to have problems. Because nobody told her the truth. She was being influenced towards a plant based diet, refusing to eat meat. Thank heaven her husband became carnivore, got a lot healthier, and now she is following his example and getting much better.

[Rose_Ou]

Low carb dietitian from Poland here 👍 If I said keto was good for pregnant women and spread that (good!) news among dietitians and doctors in my homeland I would not only be completely ostracised but possibly also jailed. Polish nutritionists and doctors on the sound of the word "lchf" get so mad they act as if possessed. It is extremely hard to work when you know you're right and others only keep making more and more people (including children) hyperinsulinemic, often not knowingly. I intend to persist because I know low carb works beautifully hoping my people will eventually wake up when diabetes will be so widespread that healthcare professionals will have to deal with the conseqences of the mad high carb diets they recommend.

[sanneketaylor]

Thank you for posting this! Lily Nichols is the most well-researched pregnancy nutrition expert I know. Her work is so extensive and her books are incredible!

[G]

Are you kidding me? Low carb, high fat and moderate protein is IDEAL for pregnancy! Fats and proteins are critical for optimal growth and health of both the mom and her future baby. Last thing a pregnant woman needs is to stuff herself with exogenous empty carbs that are nutritionally useless.

[TheLucyBess]

I’m 15 weeks and just finished her book! Highly recommend it! Easy and quick read.

[nizeng]

I really don't understand why diabetic patients need to eat loads of carbs. Don't they already have trouble dealing with blood sugar levels?

[pippilotta]

I got pregnant first try at 42 on the carnivore diet.

[MG-drmf]

I’m in the first trimester and feel so pudgy. Looking forward to entering more into ketosis as my pregnancy progresses.

[chinkyfist]

That conventional diabetes diet plan didn't help my mom. I had her off carbs or extremely low carb plus no starchy foods. That resolved her diabetes. No more meds. She could eat what she wanted once in a while as she continues a healthy lifestyle. The dieticians said that we shouldn't do that and I said, "Your diet plan and education didn't help at all. What we tried helped 100%. So why should we follow your directions to go back to your diet plan?"

Back on topic, I keep track of my glucose and blood pressure. I normally take in a low carb diet. So my glucose levels are normal. I noticed my sugar levels were high due to the diet plan my OB doc gave me, which contains lots of carbs and sugar. I didn't pass my initial GB test and had to do the 3hr fasting test to confirm. I decided to eliminate sugar and most carbs and that helped regulate my sugars again so I wasn't diagnosed with GB.

So, my conclusion is that not all diet plans are actually good for you. Do you research, testing, and validation.

[alphacause]

Thank you for this interesting presentation. Many facets of low carb nutrition have been covered over the years, but the place for low carb eating within the context of pregnancy is not something that has been covered in depth. I appreciate you for covering a topic that has seldom been given exposure. As with many misgivings that the public and medical profession have with low carb, whether pregnant women should adopt this eating pattern can best be assessed - in the absence of clinical data - by looking at it through a historical or evolutionary lens. As Ms. Nichols points out here, if having a low carbohydrate diet were that pernicious to the development of the fetus, humanity would never have made it to this point, because, for most of human history, rich sources of carbohydrate were in scarce supply. Given the dearth of plentiful carbohydrates throughout much of human existence, we must have developed adaptations for us to run on fat/ketones for fuels. It logically follows that the fetus also has these adaptations. Otherwise, every successive generation of human beings, prior to the advent of agriculture, should have shown increasing levels of mental impairment and physical disability. Modern day hunter/gatherer population should also be experiencing a rampant spread of mental retardation and physical handicaps.


On a side note, it is interesting that epidemiologists will jump to making causal connections between associated phenomenon when it favors the establishment narrative (i.e. high carb/low fat is good for you), but then don't make such leaps in logic when associations work against that same narrative. After all, most studies of western dietary patterns show an increase in carbohydrate consumption has occurred in the West for the past few decades, with a concomitant reduction in overall fat intake. We have also seen increased levels of autism, ADHD, and food allergies in children. Now logically we should never make a causal connection between increased carbohydrate consumption and any one of these maladies, based simply on observational evidence of an increase in these two things. We would be guilty of the same error that we criticize epidemiologists for making. So I would never advocate for such a non sequitur. However, following the same illogical thinking of epidemiologists, if one phenomenon is on the rise (i.e. increased carb intake) and another phenomenon was on the rise (ADHD, autism, and allergies), why don't these same epidemiologists, who like to denigrate low carb, say that the former causes the latter? Why won't epidemiologists erroneously jump to this conclusion? Could it be their funding?

[karleighdye]

Wow I love this. I started my keto lifestyle a month ago and just found out I’m 5 weeks pregnant, had gestational diabetes with my 1st pregnancy so this had my full attention. I was seeing weight loss results and was feeling great then read about how it’s “dangerous” for the baby and got very concerned that I’ve already damaged my little one. I took a ketosis support supplement two days prior to finding out but I am sure it’s fine but not going to continue taking it just in case

[thejones]

I got pregnant while doing keto. Blood sugars were perfect. Because I had previous history of diabetes my dr sent me to a diabetes clinic. They told me I had to eat more carbs and when I told them I didn’t want to they got upset. So being dumb I gave into their demands. My blood sugar kept increasing as they pushed more and more carbs. Then they started insulin and if I had too much they’d counteract with more carbs. Eventually they maxed me out on insulin but continued to push carbs. I begged them and told them that if I ate less carbs I’d need less insulin. They wouldn’t listen. My blood pressure became out of control. It was a very hard pregnancy and birth. My son had issues when born because of how high my sugars were even in insulin.I am now pregnant again and doing keto. I will not let the clinic push carbs this time. I know what’s best for my body and it can not handle loads of carbs and be healthy.